Signature Artist of the Month

March 2016

Conceptual and travel photographer

Ferran Traité

Whether he's bringing one of his creative concepts to life or capturing a new city, Ferran Traité approaches his photos with a designer's eye. Always evolving, the photographer continuely pushes himself to produce thought-provoking, creative and moving imagery. Learn more about our March Signature Artist of the Month.

STORY

BRINGING A GRAPHIC DESIGN AESTHETIC TO PHOTOGRAPHY

For Ferran Traité, change is the biggest constant in his life.

Over the past 11 years, the Barcelona native has moved all over the world, calling places like Sweden, London, New York and most recently, Mexico, home. With each new location, the iStock by Getty Images Signature photographer has been exposed to new cultures and ideas that have greatly influenced his life and approach to photography.

“Every time you move everything is fresh — new places, new routines, new everything,” he said. “With each new location I go to, whether I move there or just travel, you see people living their lives in different ways and you learn a lot.”

ISTOCK SIGNATURE ARTIST FERRAN TRAITÉ

Living all over the world lends itself well to travel photography, so it’s not surprising that Ferran spends a lot of time photographing his new surroundings.

Moving around also had a profound influence on his career. Ferran started out as a graphic designer, but had always taken photos as a hobby and regularly used his images in his designs. Moving around so much made it difficult to maintain his design clients so he started designing less and photographing more, eventually becoming a full-time photographer.

“Photography is very similar to graphic design,” he said. “It’s like designing through the viewfinder. You just have to find your lines and your composition.”

While he loves capturing the cultures and landscapes of these new locations, what he really enjoys is the ability to photograph what he describes as the constant ebb and flow of a place.

“I’m on a continuous search to find different ways to shoot things. I love going back to a place several times and seeing how it changes,” Ferran said. “If you go at different times during the day or approach it from a new angle, everything looks different — the light is different, the activity is different — there’s always a new perspective to capture.”

While travel photography is a huge portion of his portfolio, his true passion lies in his conceptual imagery.

“I really have a lot of fun doing conceptual photos; they are an amazing creative outlet. The process is more artistic. You start from the idea and build it from scratch, so it’s this very creative process. That’s the fun part for me, the process.”

EVEN EVERYDAY MOMENTS CAN BE BROUGHT TO LIFE WITH THE RIGHT COMPOSITION

“A majority of the time you’re simplifying rather than adding to an idea."

THE BEST TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY HIGHLIGHTS THE TINY DIFFERENCES IN A LOCATION

An essential part of this process is constantly honing and polishing the execution of his concept.

Between his ever-changing location, choice of topic and source of inspiration, Ferran said he is always growing as an artist — and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“My style is always evolving. It’s a continuous process of finding your points of interest along the journey,” Ferran said. “Photography is all about trial and error: There’s always something to learn from your mistakes, but getting better is part of the process. You just have to keep at it and keep improving. That’s what keeps me going.”

DOWNLOAD

On this particular frame I had to stand amongst the cactuses to get the angle I wanted.

The model is my younger sister. Since I've been living abroad for quite a while now, when I go back to Barcelona to see family and friends we use the excuse of organizing small shoots to catch up on our lives and spend the day together. The pesky needles kept sticking me, but it was all worth it in the end--no pain no gain.

"Photography is my creative outlet, it allows me to express myself and in a way it's a form of therapy. I come back from a shoot and feel fulfilled."

A good image can work anywhere

With such high-quality photography in the iStock Signature collection, it’s easy to make your images fit your needs. It doesn’t matter what industry your business is in, when you find a good image it can work almost anywhere.

Go big

Working directly with our artists means that we have access to the raw files you need to make images as big as you need them.

Get the images moving

Whether it's a banner ad or a movie clip, adding a little animation to your images can push your ads above the rest of the pack.

Add a little something to your swag

From stickers to shirts and more, adding an image to your group's gear is an easy way to bring in a necessary visual pop.